A marketing specification is a document that businesses put together prior to launching a product's advertising and marketing plan. The marketing specification document outlines the product's key attributes, considers the competition and identifies its target market. Writing the marketing specification can help you to think through the best approaches to advertising and selling the product and to uniquely positioning it on the market.

Benefits and Advantages of the Product

The basic goal of a marketing specification document is to outline the benefits and advantages of the product to the consumers. Listing the product's key characteristics and value-adding attributes allows the business to detail how it will contribute to the marketplace and how it will stand out from similar products. It is also important to think about the technical requirements and specifications for the product that are necessary to include in the documentation that will be released with the product or included on the marketing materials.

Identify the Target Market

The marketing specification plan should include a discussion of the target market(s) for the product. Ask yourself: Who is most likely to buy this product given its benefits? How can the organization tap into the buying power of these consumers? Where is the target market most likely to find out about the product? Answering these questions helps you to position your product in the correct marketing and distribution channels.

Point Out the Competition

Every product you take to market, even ones that are new inventions or improvements on old products, face competition. This is because customers buy products for many different reasons. Some are interested in the innovation of new products, others care more about price point and clever marketing schemes. Your competition will capitalize on these buyer preferences and seek to edge out your product from the market. Identifying the competition in your marketing specification helps the organization to clarify how it can edge out and respond to the competition.

Disseminate the Document

After you've compiled the marketing specification document, you should disseminate it to the key stakeholders in your organization. These stakeholders will vary depending on the nature of the product but will certainly include senior management, key front-line staff members and the sales and marketing team. In smaller organizations, where one person is likely to fill several different roles, it is all the more important that you have buy-in from your staff on the specifics of the marketing document.